Category Archives: chocolate

ShareTweet I rarely pass up dessert when I’m going out to eat. It’s that final moment of the evening’s experience, the sweetness that lingers on your tongue as you go back out into the night. The meal would not be complete without it. Most desserts at higher end restaurants are gorgeous, almost too pretty to… Continue Reading

ShareTweet We’re headed to Hawaii for our big family vacation in August and I have lava on the brain. My night stand is piled high with Hawaiian travel guides and while my kids are excited to surf, seeing the volcanos in Volcano National Park is at the top of my list. As I plan and… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Some kitchen appliances get no glory. In my case, the least appreciated appliance in my kitchen closet is my hand mixer. Until recently, mine dated back to my college days. To put things into perspective and make a painful confession, next spring will be my 20 year reunion. High time for a hand mixer… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Chocolate lovers come in all shapes and sizes. My kids love chocolate as passionately as I do, but more often than not, my idea of the perfect chocolate cake will turn out to be too rich and dark for their taste. They’ll eat the cake, toned down with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but… Continue Reading

ShareTweet For the last year or so, Bella and I have been in an informal book club, passing books back and forth, sitting down on a Friday night to watch the movie. For me, it’s a great excuse to read some really fun young adult novels. For her, it’s a chance to be welcomed to… Continue Reading

ShareTweet For our book club meeting last night, I made these incredibly rich chocolate meringue cookies. By adding marshmallows, the cookies became Rocky Road Chocolate Meringue Cookies, a nod to the rough life of the main character in The Goldfinch. I modified a recipe I found on Eva’s Daily Doses of Sugar blog. Eva’s recipe… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Pecan pies are definitely the highlight of the holiday dessert table as far as I’m concerned. A few years ago, I started throwing in chocolate into the mix, and made them even better. This year, instead of using pie crust, I propose puff pastry as the base. Individual puff pastry nests filled with pecans… Continue Reading

ShareTweet What was your favorite dessert when you were a kid? We moved every few years so I have a few, but if I had to pick, my favorite would be this hot chocolate pudding cake at a London Notting Hill neighborhood burger joint called Tootsies. They served it in a wooden salad bowl, filled… Continue Reading

ShareTweet It’s been a while since I’ve shared a Nutella recipe, a mysterious omission considering that we always have two jars of Nutella in our cabinet. One jar would just be too close to possibly running out. We fold Nutella in hot chocolate, roll it up in hot Nutella sponge cake, and hide it away… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Candied bacon sprinkles? You’re either raising your eyebrows or licking your lips right now. I personally was in the raised eyebrow camp the first time I was served candied bacon on an ice cream sundae. I love bacon probably more than most people, and love that sweet and salty combinations, but bacon on ice… Continue Reading

ShareTweet When I think of a mouth watering dessert, I usually picture something hot out of the oven, something oozing with dark chocolate ribbons. But the fridge, or even the freezer, can be just as effective in creating magical desserts. After a few hours in the fridge, this chocolate mousse trifle is layer after layer… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Romantics make unconventional bakers. I want my kitchen full of magic, full of spontaneous last minute ingredients. A pinch here, a pinch there. I don’t need the certainty of the same result every time. For every failure, I’ll have a surprise success. Every time slick egg whites whip up into perfect peaks, I am dazzled… Continue Reading

ShareTweet After frantically making Valentine’s Day cards for too many kids tonight, I’ve become a full fledged Valentine’s Day grump. Now that there’s no candy exchanged in our schools, I don’t really see the point. The moms race around to help their kids make these little cards as well as a pretty little box to… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Some recipes just beg to be made again, and be made again quickly. I made Rooibos Pots de Creme last week and they were so creamy, so decadent, that I had to make another batch. I’d be playing tennis or talking to friends, and suddenly all I could think about was sinking my spoon… Continue Reading

ShareTweet My oldest daughter is a strict non-fruititarian. The last time she ate any type of fruit was on the tip of a plastic coated baby spoon, ten years ago. She eats her vegetables with gusto, but refuses sweeter and juicier produce. We’ve tried to entice her with rewards, peer pressure, and threats with fruits… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Since moving away from New Jersey, our Thanksgiving celebrations have involved packing and flying instead of baking and cooking. I miss the days of driving to my mother in law’s house with pecan pie carefully balanced on my lap. Don’t get me wrong, our table is still overflowing with food, and reuniting with everyone… Continue Reading… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Tonight all rules go out the window. Everything in moderation is usually my motto but Halloween is an exception. I give the kids a night of excess, a night of enjoying their sugar-laden bounty. Regardless of its pagan roots, I love the magic of turning our ordinary neighborhood into a candy wonderland. For one… Continue Reading

ShareTweet French food has a reputation as being fussy, fancy, and complicated to prepare. While the elaborate sauces served at restaurants like Le Bernardin are great examples of French cuisine, they’re not representative of the type of cooking done at home in French families on weeknights. French cooks, just like American ones, have recipes they… Continue Reading

ShareTweet Dark and rich chocolate ganache is my favorite frosting to bake with and eat. It sounds so grown up and sophisticated but it is so easy to throw together in under five minutes. And because you simply pour it on, it’s quicker to frost with and more forgiving. All you have to do is… Continue Reading

ShareTweet We used to go out on Valentine’s Day. Big expensive dinners with menus studded with exotic aphrodisiac ingredients that we booked months ahead of time. One year at a fancy French restaurant in New York, the chef decided to do a his and hers menu, with no substitution allowed. I spent the evening coveting… Continue Reading